Age of tilted reefs, Hawaii.

Journal of Geophysical Research

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Abstract

Submerged carbonate reefs are preserved as a series of submarine terraces between Molokai and Hawaii along a 200-km span of the SE Hawaiian Ridge. Limestones from 2 of the terraces have been dated at 13 and 120 ka. Recognition that the terraces are tilted permits assignment of about a dozen terraces from 150 to 1300 m depth to 8 general reef platforms. These reefs were drowned by the combined effects of island subsidence and sea level rise at the end of successive glacial stages from 13 to 647 ka. The platforms are tilted 5 m/km SE toward the locus of volcanic centered on the island of Hawaii.-from Authors